Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. Gift Establishes Purina Endowed Professorship at UF College of Veterinary Medicine
Domenico Santoro, D.V.M., M.S., Dr.Sc., Ph.D., DACVD, DECVD, DACVM, professor and service chief of dermatology at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine was tapped as the Purina Endowed Professor thanks to a generous gift from Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. to establish an endowed professorship at the college.
Nestle Purina PetCare’s quest to drive pet nutrition forward and conduct industry-leading research on the wellbeing of pets served as a catalyst for the endowed professorship to support Santoro’s pioneering veterinary dermatology research. Purina’s ultimate mission is to produce palatable, nutritious pet food products that meet the highest standards of quality and safety.
With clinical microbiology, environmental allergies, host-pathogen interaction and innate immunity all at the forefront of his research, Santoro’s mission is to unveil the mechanisms at the base of allergies in companion animals and how these impact the host-microbe interaction.
Santoro’s research portfolio includes investigating alterations of the skin barrier and cutaneous immune response in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis, alternative treatments for atopic diseases in dogs and cats, immunology and pathogenesis of canine Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne infectious disease caused by parasites transmitted through sandflies, as well as host-microbe interanion. His clinical research interests include alternative treatment options for multidrug-resistant and fastidious organisms, allergies, cryotherapy for the skin, laser surgery for the skin and infectious diseases.
Santoro is board-certified by both the European and American Colleges of Veterinary Dermatology, as well as the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists. He earned his veterinary medicine degree at the University of Naples Federico II in Naples, Italy, in 2001, followed by a research doctorate in 2006.
Santoro then made his way to the United States for a veterinary dermatology internship at North Carolina State University in 2007 and earned his master’s degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, or UIUC, in 2010 while working on his dermatology residency. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in veterinary medical sciences at UIUC in 2013 before embarking upon his time at the University of Florida.
About Nestlé Purina PetCare Co.
For over 90 years, Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. has been guided by the belief that pets and people are better together. Their passion for pets goes beyond pushing pet nutrition forward and into forging partnerships in the pet welfare world and raising awareness of what pets truly need. The quest to drive pet nutrition forward and conduct industry-leading research on the wellbeing of pets pushes Purina to do more year after year.